Making a "Inorganic Physiology" Powers and Abilities page

[DontTalkDT]

Reading this thread I thought it might be a good idea to make a p&a-page for characters which aren't technically alive/undead, but instead are objects. For example things like robots or animated objects.

This kind of characters usually share a set of properties that come just from being objects.

E.g. resistance to life manipulation (not technically alive), resistance to death manipulation (not technically alive), resistance to poison manipulation (no biological functions that could be harmed by poison), resistance to biological manipulation (is inorganic) and probably some others I don't think of right now

Summarizing those in a page seems like it would make things easier than to explain each unconventional resistance separately for every such character.


I would suggest making 2 types of the ability.

1. Objects that were given life: For example if a spell gives a candle sentience.

2. Objects that aren't alive: For example robots.

The important difference between the two being that type 2 gets things like "Immunity to Soul Manipulation" due to lacking a soul and some "Resistance to Mind Manipulation" (Due to lacking a biological and non-physical consciousness), while the Type 1 don't necessarily have that (one could view it as objects that are possessed in some way and the possessing being could be susceptible to those abilities).

 

[Warren_Valion]

Makes sense to me.

 

[Ogbunabali]

Yeah this should be a thing. I agree completely.

 

[Wokistan]

I agree.

 

[DontTalkDT]

Are there any resistances / properties that should be added, which I haven't mentioned above?

 

[Wokistan]

For type 2 there's life manip and basic death manip, I would think.

 

[DontTalkDT]

Shouldn't type 1 have those as well, even if to a lesser extent?

Aside from that Self-Sustenance is probably also part of the default package.

 

[Wokistan]

Well if something is granted life, it should still be susceptible to having that life manipulated.

Yeah.

 

[DontTalkDT]

I suppose you're right, though that depends a bit on how the life/death manipulation works mechanic wise.

 

[TriforcePower1]

Yeah, this is good. Should we expand most of this stuff to ghosts as well? Stuff like biological manipulation and most stuff you mentioned wouldn't technically work on them either.

 

[YungManzi]

Resistance/immunity to soul manipulation?

 

[DontTalkDT]

Yeah, this is good. Should we expand most of this stuff to ghosts as well? Stuff like biological manipulation and most stuff you mentioned wouldn't technically work on them either.

You have a point that ghosts seem to have similar properties to Type 1. I guess ghosts technically are inorganic as well, being made out of spectral matter.

It might not be the most intuitive classification, though. I would like a few more opinions on including them in this.

Resistance/immunity to soul manipulation?

Is planned for Type 2.

 

[DontTalkDT]

Draft
Summary

The ability to be an inorganic object. Users of this ability are unaffected by many things which would be lethal to living beings or even undead.

Possible Uses

• Resistance to Poison: As the users have no organic functions, like living creatures would, common poison is ineffective against them.
• Resistance to Biological Manipulation: As users of this ability aren't organic beings, they lack all biological functions, and can therefore also not be manipulated in this manner.
• Resistance to Diseases: As they lack the body functions of living beings, common illnesses would not harm them.
• Self-Sustenance: Users of the ability usually don't rely on oxygen or nutrients to function.

Types

1. Living Objects: Inorganic objects given life by supernatural means. For example objects that were given a soul and through that were brought to life.
2. Non-Living Objects: Robots, AI or other inorganic beings, that have no consciousness beyond what the physical functions of their bodies grants them. This type of character is typically immune to Soul Manipulation due to lacking a soul and is also unaffected by many common forms of Mind Manipulation, since they neither have an organic brain to be manipulated nor have a non-physical consciousness. Since these characters usually also don't have something like life force and aren't alive in the usual sense in the first place, they are furthermore unaffected by common forms of Life Manipulation and Death Manipulation.

Users

• The Terminator (T-800) and other Terminators. (The Terminator (Series))
• Ryuzu Yourslave, Trishula Anchor and other automata (Clockwork Planet)

 

[TriforcePower1]

Seems mostly good. Radiation Manipulation would also be resisted, by the way.

 

[Wokistan]

Actually, radiation has messed with machines before. Caused issues at Chernobyl with the cleanup and getting some photographs.

There are some spelling and phrasing issues here and there but it looks generally good to me.

 

[Warren_Valion]

You should use a gif of that scene with the brooms from Fantasia.

Something like this maybe?

 

[Mr._Redic]

I gotta question how robots or AIs are automatically assumed to not have souls or non-physical minds, in verses that have them and don't say they don't at least. I mean, some androids do have dreams of electric sheep.

Other suff like immunity to biological manipulation makes sense though.

 

[Wokistan]

A basic robot is just a machine in the same way as a car or something, programming and/or remote control used to animate it does not constitute a mind or soul. If a verse does that with its robots they can possess minds or souls though.

 

[Mr._Redic]

Yeah sure, basic robots or drones don't count, but I'm taking about robots or androids with at least human intellect.

 

[Wokistan]

It'd depend on how the verse treats it. For example stuff like the Necrons in 40k are explicitly soulless and some have a negative amount of soul, but the Exo in Destiny which are adapted from former humans still have the same Light and Ghost that every other rGuardian does. As a default though, it wouldn't.

Personally I don't particularly like assuming things have souls in verses that don't bring up the concept but I think that's just me and it's not a change I'm gonna push for.

 

[Mr._Redic]

Yeah, personally I assume every verse that doesn't mention souls don't have them, particualrly in more nihilistic stories or harder sci-fi works.

 

[DontTalkDT]

I would have thought we currently treat it as robots being soulless unless the verse specifies the opposite or there are circumstances like living beings being converted into robots.

It also seems like the most reasonable solution. Robots are usually not things created with siritual properties, but rather as completly physical systems. That a soul appears from nowhere and then somehow influences a mechanical system seems like the less likely assumption.

 

[Antvasima]

I cleaned up the language a bit in the draft for the page.

However, I do not think that we should include ghosts in this, as they are consciousness without physical bodies, not inanimate objects.

 

[DontTalkDT]

Makes sense, I will leave ghosts out then.

 

[Antvasima]

Okay. Thanks.

 

[DontTalkDT]

I made the page.

We should probably add it to a number of pages, to get its used established.


Should the category that goes with it be "Inorganic Physiology Users" or something like "Inorganic Beings"?

 

[Antvasima]

Inorganic Beings probably sounds better i.m.h.o., but it depends on what other staff members think.

 

[CinnabarManx421]

Would this apply to an inorganic beings like Gems from Steven Universe? They're bodies aren't organic (made of Hard Light) so I was wondering if this could apply to them.

 

[Antvasima]

Their bodies are literally sentient gemstones, so I suppose that it might be fine.

 

[CinnabarManx421]

Well, here's the problem, there was an argument over how Soul Manip works on gems due to them being inorganic, and it was decided that it should depend on the verse they are against. Basically the consensus was that being inorgainc doesn't necessarily mean you don't have a soul, so should that also apply to this page as well?

 

[PsychoWarper]

Would SCP-173 have this?

 

[Wokistan]

Well, here's the problem, there was an argument over how Soul Manip works on gems due to them being inorganic, and it was decided that it should depend on the verse they are against. Basically the consensus was that being inorgainc doesn't necessarily mean you don't have a soul, so should that also apply to this page as well?

I don't see why this would inherently apply to other verses though. Gems don't really act like inorganics considering they blatantly have minds and stuff so they may be an exception as opposed to some sort of trendsetter.

 

[DontTalkDT]

The gems would be type 1, no? Type 1 makes no statement regarding having or not having a soul.

 

[CinnabarManx421]

Well, no. It says "Objects that were given a soul and through that were brought to life."

 

[DontTalkDT]

No, it says "For example objects that were given a soul and through that were brought to life."

In general it is any being that does not necessarily archieve sentience through purely physical means. Whether or not these have a soul is completly up to the verse.

 

[Antoniofer]

I like this power, I do not consider it completely relevant, but it could be useful (could prevent type 5 immortality in few characters). I helped to create the current Immortality page in HowStrongIs wiki, so if is helpful, here's the text:

Inorganic - The user is an inorganic being, being made of machinery, inanimate objects, minerals or any other non-biological substance.

• Causes:
  • Artificial Intelligence: The user is an AI, such as a machine or android.
  • Cyborization: Organs in the user are replaced by non-biological substitutes, preventing natural aging.
  • Animated Object: The user is an object that was brought to life by an external power such magic or elemental control.
• Effects:
  • Longevity or Eternal Life.
  • Immunity to natural diseases and poisons.

Unaffected by Biological Manipulation.

• • May have limitless stamina.
• Weaknesses:
  • AIs may be vulnerable to Technology and Electricity Manipulation.
  • Some animated objects may be mindless, and thus lacks intelligence and reasoning.
  • Can still be destroyed.

Note: my country is having electrical issies (like big issues), so if I do not reply, you do known why.

 

[Antvasima]

Good luck Antoniofer. I really hope that you will be alright.

 

[Andytrenom]

Had this exact idea for a power recently. Glad to see it ended up being a thing.

 

[Andytrenom]

BTW, would characters like Doraemon get the ability? He is a robot but unless I'm mistaken he does get sick.

 

[DontTalkDT]

I don't know, depends how he gets sick.

If he gets sick by a normal disease that would indicate organic components. If he on the other hand is infected by some special robot disease or gets sick due to something like a computer virus, it's no issue.